Food, family and memories are as intertwined in the South as if woven on the same thread. At any function we attend, from a party to a wedding to a funeral, we are as likely to talk as much about the food that was there, as we are about why we are gathered. ~Mary Foreman

I'm your cook, not your doctor. ~PAULA DEEN

I found out what the secret to life is: friends. Best friends. ~Ninny Threadgoode

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Yellow cake mix gets a boost of banana, brown sugar and cinnamon, and is topped with a quick caramel icing and chopped pecans.

Easy Banana Cake with Quick Caramel Icing

This cake came about when I saw a from scratch, two layer banana cake that was just gorgeous and looked so darned good with a yummy butter and cream cheese icing and dotted with chunks of walnuts. I even bought the bananas with the intent of making it, but for some reason every time I thought about making it, I would look at the recipe and put it off. It seemed a bit daunting to me and I'm not a great layer cake baker.

Well, as bananas do, they were soon calling to be used, and knowing that I did have a couple of cake mixes in the pantry, I pulled out my trusty copy of the The Cake Mix Doctor and sure enough, there lay a recipe that I could shortcut! Yay!

I'll get around to a homemade banana cake when I'm in the mood, but for now this worked well and was excellent. I really love the caramel icing - very similar to my peanut butter icing in method, this would be a great frosting to liven up several kinds of different cakes.

Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with Baker's Joy non-stick spray. In the bowl of your mixer, add the cake mix, brown sugar and cinnamon and whisk to break up clumps.

In a separate bowl, combine the bananas, water, oil and eggs until mixed together. Add to the dry ingredients. Beat on low for about 1 minute, stop scrape down the sides, and beat another 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake another 25 to 30 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Place on a wire rack to cool in the pan. Pour icing over the still warm cake and sprinkle the pecans on top while the icing is still warm. Allow the cake to set for at least an hour to fully cool.

Variation: Make this an applesauce cake by replacing the bananas with 1 cup of applesauce. Thanks Lori!

Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

The cake looks good. I have never made a caramel icing to go with my banana cake--maybe I should try that. I have always made either a banana icing or a cream cheese icing. I truly hardly ever bake but I must say the one cake I can and do make from scratch is a banana cake recipe I got when I was in nursing school. It is so good. You know you can't bake when your husband tells you that you should buy family birthday cakes instead of baking them!! I agreed with him--I usually don't take the time to be so precise that is why I cook better than I bake!! Sheila in NC

Hello Mary, I am making this cake again today for the third time. I am sure my husbands family is going to love it after Thanksgiving dinner. Best wishes to you and your family this holiday season. I don't know what I would cook without your fabulous recipe blog.Regards,Teresa Lott-Swope

I had not heard of the Cake Mix Doctor until I read this recipe. I tried it using a white cake mix because that is what I had on hand. Everyone loved it! m I found the frosting to be a little too sweet for my taste but I heard no complaints from anyone! I need to get this book!

I find most boxed cake mixes and the powdered sugar icings pretty sweet myself, so I do understand that, but the caramel pairs so nicely with this banana cake. I personally prefer the buttercream icings - imagine that LOL!! Duncan Hines box mix isn't quite as sweet as some of the others. It's just nice to throw together a box cake dessert sometimes!!

The Cake Mix Doctor I have is pretty old, so you can usually find it used, but I want to say that she has a newer cookbook out too from just a few years ago, plus a variety of others. It's a great cookbook to help jazz up boxed mixes. Thanks for taking the time to come back to comment Mary - I appreciate that!

Thanks for taking the time to comment - I love hearing from readers and I read every single comment and try to respond to them right here on the site, so stop back by!

From time to time, anonymous restrictions and/or comment moderation may be activated due to comment spam. I also reserve the right to edit, delete or otherwise exercise total editorial discretion over any comments left on this blog.

Hey Y’all! Welcome to some good ole, down home southern cooking. Pull up a chair, grab some iced tea, and 'sit a bit' as we say down south. If this is your first time visiting Deep South Dish, you can sign up for FREE updates via EMAIL or RSS feed, or you can catch up with us on Facebook and Twitter too!

You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients. ~Julia Child

The classic southern plate for supper is made up of meat and three, cornbread or rolls & a tall glass of sweet iced tea.

Oftentimes what makes a recipe southern, is as much a state of mind as it is a matter of geography - Southerners simply decide a particular food is southern, and that's that." ~Rick McDaniel, Food Historian

DISCLAIMER: This is a recipe site intended for entertainment. By using this site and these recipes you agree that you do so at your own risk, that you are completely responsible for any liability associated with the use of any recipes obtained from this site, and that you fully and completely release Mary Foreman and Deep South Dish LLC and all parties associated with either entity, from any liability whatsoever from your use of this site and these recipes.

ALL CONTENT PROTECTED UNDER THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT. CONTENT THEFT, EITHER PRINT OR ELECTRONIC, IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE. Recipes may be printed ONLY for personal use and may not be transmitted, distributed, reposted, or published elsewhere, in print or by any electronic means. Seek explicit permission before using any content on this site, including partial excerpts, all of which require attribution linking back to specific posts on this site. I have, and will continue to act, on all violations.